Rail tie and joint.



A. ZIMMBRMAN.

RAIL TIE AND JOINT.

APPLICATION nun 0M. so, 1913.

Patented Sept. 15, 19141.

Inventor Witnesses 08 y, e n r 0 ALONZO ZIMMERMAN', or AFNSTED, WESTVIRGINIA.

BAIL Tin AND JOINT;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

Original application filed August 5, 1913, Serial No. 783,133. Dividedand this application filed October 30,

. 1913. Serial No. 798,349.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALONZO ZIMMERMAN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Ansted, in the county ofFayette and State of West Virginia, have invented a new and useful RailTie and Joint, of. which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improve ments in rail ties and joints,the present ap- I plication being a division of an application filedAugust 5, 1913, Serial No. 783,133, patented November 11, 1913, No.1,078,326 for improvements in metal tie and rail fastener, one object ofthe present invention being the provision of a novel joint and locktherefor in combination with a metal tie, whereby the necessary bond orconnection for trafiic rails of an electric railway is properly held andassembled without the employment of bolts or spikes, as is the usualcustom.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed .without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I In the drawings Figure 1 is a top plan view showing the presentinvention applied, the rails at the joint being shown in section. Fig. 2is a side elevation thereof, dotted lines illustrating the position ofthe movable members when releasing the rail. Fig. 3 is a section takenon line 33 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates two parallel plateswhich are held together by means of the two end bolts and the centralpivoting bolt 3, the bolts 2 having disposed thereupon, the spacingsleeve 4 which provides a means for properly guiding the movable railclamping members of the tie, as will presently appear. Formed at oneendof' the two plates 1 upon the upper edge are the upstanding cleats orlugs 5, which are shaped to receive one end of the base 6 of. the rail7, this structure being particularly set forth and described in the mainapplication of which the present case is a division. The two rods 8 and9' have their hooked ends 10 and 11 respectively, disposed to engage thebases 6 and 13 of the rails 7 and 14 respectively, and by means of thelever 12, be moved into and out of engagement, as clearly shown in thefull and dotted lines Fig. 2. The lever 12 is the means for operatingthese two rods simultaneously,

the same when disposed to be between the plates 1 holding the rods 8 and9 in looking position and when moved to the dotted line position,releases the same. The base 13 of the rail 14 is disposed to be seatedwithin the two recesses 15 formed in the upper edges of the plates 1adjacent the outwardly extending arms 16 of the respective plates 1.These arms 16 terminate in the cylindrical pins 17, which are adapted tobe disposed through the apertures 18 of the bonding plate 19,- and theapertures 20 formedin the web of the rail 14. By this means the clampingaction of the hooks 10 and 11 of the arm 9 tends to force the rail inclose contact with the arms 16 so that the bonding plate 19 is heldrigidly in place, as clearly illustrated in- Fig. 1. This plate 19 ispreferably made of copper so as to form an electrical bond between thetwo rails at the joint and provide a means which will permit" theassembling of the rail joints without the employment of bolts or spikes.By this means, this structure is especially adapted to be used inconnection with mining electric railways where it is necessary toquickly extend angles to the plates and terminating 1n cy-' lindricaland parallel terminals, said terminals being disposed to engage abonding plate and the two webs of adjacent rails at the joint of therails, and manually controlled means mounted between the plates forclamping and engaging the outer ends of the bases of the two rails andfor locking them against the divergent arms.

2. In a device of this character, two lon gitudinal and spaced plates,the upper edges of the two plates adjacent one end being provided witharms adjacent at diverging angles to the plates and terminating incylindrical and parallel terminals, said terminals being disposed toengage a bonding plate and the two webs of adjaeentrails at the joint ofthe rail, manually controlled means mounted between the plates forclamping and engaging theouter ends of the bases of the two rails andfor locking them against the divergent arms, and cooperating meanscarried upon the o posite ends of the plates and the manual y controlledmeans for engaging the other rail and locking the same upon the platesand in 10 coactive relation to the rail joint.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in-t'he presence of two wltnesses.

ALONZO ZIMMERMAN. Witnesses:

' r C. M. AGNEW,

E. R. .RAems.

